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With the 2026 World Cup looming, former U.S. Men’s National Team legends Landon Donovan and Tim Howard have voiced frustration over the decisions of several senior players to skip this summer’s CONCACAF Gold Cup. During their joint podcast Unfiltered Soccer, the two former teammates shared pointed criticism of Christian Pulisic, Antonee Robinson, and Yunus Musah for prioritizing rest or personal matters over international duty.
The Gold Cup represents the last competitive opportunity for the U.S. squad to gel in tournament play before co-hosting the World Cup next summer. However, notable absences have raised questions about player commitment. Pulisic, coming off consecutive 50-game seasons with AC Milan, opted out to manage his workload. Robinson, suffering from knee tendinopathy, was recently announced by Fulham to be undergoing surgery and spending the summer recovering. Musah, meanwhile, reportedly withdrew for “personal reasons,” according to club manager Mauricio Pochettino.
Despite understanding the toll of long seasons and mental fatigue, Donovan said he’s troubled by the lack of transparency from the players. “I understand very clearly what it’s like to need a break,” he said, referencing his own sabbatical from soccer in 2013. “If there’s something serious going on in your life, in your family, mentally, whatever, I get it... If they would actually come out and give reasons, it would help us, but none of them want to say anything publicly.”
Donovan appeared especially concerned about the optics of Pulisic’s continued involvement with Milan late in the Serie A season, even as the team had little left to play for. “The problem I have with Christian in the last few weeks is he’s still playing for Milan,” Donovan said. “They had nothing to play for this weekend. Zero.”
Donovan speculated that Pulisic’s decision could have influenced Musah’s as well.
Donovan added that if Robinson were fully committed to the U.S. team, his choices would have reflected that: “If it was, Antonee would have said, ‘I’m not playing these last four games because I want to play in the Gold Cup,’ period, end of story.”
Howard also expressed frustration, but he directed part of the blame at the U.S. Soccer Federation. “I’m putting a ton of this on US Soccer,” he said, criticizing what he sees as a lack of proactive communication with European clubs.
The U.S. will kick off their Gold Cup run against Trinidad & Tobago on June 14, following warm-up friendlies versus Turkey and Switzerland on June 7 and June 10. The build-up, however, has been marked more by absences than preparation, sparking a broader debate about the priorities of American soccer’s biggest stars.
Featured Image Credit: Unsplash / Jon Tyson, Instagram / @landondonovan10
